Chuck vs The Sister
by kdip4014
Summary: Who is Sarah's sister? A series of one-shots telling each of them...cause we really don't know if any of them could be true...
1. The dead one

Chuck vs. The Begining

Summary: What was the deal with that video at the end of the pilot? Was that really Sarah? Ellie asks the question, and what goes from there.

AN: So, this is my first attempt at Chuck fanfic, and I hope that it doesn't inhale profusely, let me know if it does. At the moment this will remain a one shot, and I hope it doesn't suck, because I did this when I couldn't concentrate on my research proposal topic approval paper.

Right, one last thing: I don't own Chuck, if I did, Bryce would be dead and Chuck and Sarah would be together.

oOoOo

"Sarah, I've got a question for you." Ellie walks in to the living room from the kitchen and hands her a glass of wine before taking her seat on a chair.

"Shoot." Sarah adjusts herself, making herself comfortable with her feet in Chuck's lap.

"On your first game night, you mentioned a sister – what does she do? Where is she?"

"That was two questions, Ellie." Chuck intervenes to give Sarah a few moments to create a lie.

"She, um, she died, four years ago." Sarah looks down at her lap, fiddling with the stem of her glass of wine, expecting the pity that's coming.

"I'm so sorry, what happened to her?"

"She worked for the CIA," Chuck's head snaps up at that. "She worked counter terrorism and intelligence at Gitmo and died during a revolt of the prisoners there."

"Gitmo?" The confusion shows on Ellie's face.

"Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It's the base where suspected terrorists are held for questioning until their guilt or innocence is determined. She was an extremely qualified interrogator and she was helping out when one interrogator was down with the flu. He gave her false information that put her in the middle of the group yard when the revolt began. She was found with several stab wounds and died from internal bleeding."

"I am so sorry, Sarah. Now I feel just horrible for asking you about her."

"There's no way that you could have known about it."

"Do you have any other siblings?"

"Yes, one older brother and sister. They're 11 years older than Laura and I."

"Eleven years? Who was the mistake?"

"Laura and I were. Our parents were told that they couldn't have any more kids, but one day, she figured out that what she thought was stress was actually a pregnancy."

"So you and Laura are twins?"

"Identical right down to the freckle pattern on our shoulder." Chuck gets a far off look to his face, remembering the flash that he had in the Buy More right after he found out the truth about Sarah, and quickly changes the subject.

"Well, now, this is getting depressing, hey, have you two set a date yet?" Chuck brings up the wedding, knowing that will distract his sister enough to get her attention off of Sarah.

"Yes, we both have time off in late April, so we're thinking about then-" Chuck tunes out his sister and turns his attention to Sarah. She's not paying much attention either, staring into the depths of her wine distractedly.

By now Chuck has learned to read Sarah when she tells a lie for her cover. He studies her, looking for all the tell-tale signs and finds nothing. With a start, he realizes that some – if not all – of what she just said was true. Silently he reaches over and takes one of her hands in his, squeezing it reassuringly. She doesn't even look up, which lets him know how much the recall of those memories cost her.

oOoOo

"Chuck, what are we doing here? This isn't my apartment." Sarah looks up, expecting to see the front of her building, instead she's greeted with the front of a restaurant she knows is near the beach.

"Come on," Chuck takes her hand and leads her to the beach, stopping at the edge to remove his shoes, she does the same and holds them in her hand. Chuck takes her free hand and leads her onto the beach where they walk in silence for a few minutes. Finally he breaks the silence.

"That was true, wasn't it? The story about your sister?"

"Yeah."

"But was it all of it?"

"Why do you ask?" Sarah turns to him with the look that Chuck has come to recognize as her interrogation look. Chuck immediately tries to figure out a way to backtrack, though quickly recognizes the futility of the action.

"Okay, so right after we met, I flashed on that ring you always used to wear – the one you wore on your middle finger with the big blue stone – and I saw the footage from a security camera of – what I thought was – you taking out these big guys with guns before shooting out the camera. And now I'm starting to wonder if maybe that was your sister." Chuck finishes his rant looking over at Sarah, who has moved her gaze down to the sand. Dropping her shoes, she follows their path to sit down. Chuck quickly follows and waits quietly for her to speak.

"It probably was. I didn't know until after she died, but she was rogue. The revolt that she died in was planned, and not by the prisoners. She was sent down there with the hope that she would die in the mayhem."

"Why? Who would do something like that?"

"Director Graham."

"What?"

"He and my father are old friends. He planned it so that my family wouldn't be disgraced by Laura's actions. My father found out after the fact what Graham did, and they haven't spoken civilly since. And I only found out the truth through my older sister."

"She's CIA also, I take it."

"Yeah. She was recruited for intelligence, but she refused to give up law school, so she went through and took a job in the legal department."

"Let me guess, your brother is CIA also."

"No. He's a war correspondent. We see him maybe once every five years."

"And how much of this is true?"

"All of it is, Chuck." Sarah looks up at him before adjusting her position so that she's sitting between his legs and is able to lean back against his chest.

Chuck hesitates for a moment before tentatively wrapping his arms around Sarah's body. He relaxes when she places her hands on top of his and lets her weight rest fully in his arms.

"When all this is over, I'd like to meet them."

"Why?"

"I'd like to let them know what an amazing woman they raised."

Though he can't see it, Sarah is smiling at his comment. "I'd like you to meet them also," She speaks so softly, he almost misses it.

The pair sits there, staring out at the moonlight on the water thinking over what just happened. Truths were spoken, and steps were made towards a potential future together. A first step in saying what they wanted to say.


	2. The Triathlete

Alright, there's only so much that you can put in the 'summary' box, so this is the more full version... Since we know absolutely _nothing_ about Sarah - including what her background is - the same goes for the sister that was mentioned in Chuck vs. The Wookie, we - as writers - get to make up whatever we want. So here it goes... each chapter is a one-shot, and each one tells a different story for who Sarah's sister could be. Maybe I'll bring in other siblings, maybe I won't... but that's the fun of it: we get to write whatever we want.

Oh yeah, I made her a triathlete in this story because I am proud to admit that I just completed my first triathlon sprint! And I just had to write about it.

* * *

"Hey, Sarah, c'mon in." Ellie steps aside to allow Sarah into the apartment before rushing back into the kitchen to ensure dinner hasn't burned. Sarah follows at a slower pace, glancing around to take in the chaos that has taken over the living room since she was last there.

"I know, it looks like the marshmallow man threw up in our living room." Ellie calls out before Sarah can say anything.

"That's one way of putting it." Sarah takes a seat at the bar and accepts the glass of wine Ellie offers her.

"There's another doctor at the hospital getting married in a few weeks and she's asked Devin and I to help her store some things until the big day."

"Right. Are those dresses?" Sarah points to three stacks of white tulle that appear to have some sort of shape.

"Yes, unfortunately those are the attendants' dresses." Ellie takes note of the look of horror on the younger woman's face. "Don't worry, I won't put you in anything like that."

"Excuse me?" Sarah asks after recovering from nearly choking on the recent sip of wine.

"Right, Devin has already asked Chuck to be his best man, so I was wondering if you'd be my maid of honor." Ellie stops what she's doing and looks to Sarah expectantly.

"Are you sure? Surely you must have another friend to ask."

"Not really. For the same reason why Devin didn't ask one of his fraternity brothers, I'm not going to try and pick between my old sorority sisters. So?"

"I'd be honored."

"Fantastic." Ellie walks around the bar to give Sarah a hug. This is the scene that Devin and Chuck walk in on seconds later."

"What did we miss, ladies?" Devin tosses his bag to the side before coming over to give his fiancée a hug and kiss, while Chuck just stands beside Sarah, loosening his tie and collar.

"Sarah just agreed to be my maid of honor."

"What!?" "Awesome!" Chuck and Devin respond at the same time. The younger man stands there dumbly, while Devin moves to give his own hug to Sarah, actually picking her up off the seat in his excitement.

"Okay, well dinner will still be awhile, so why don't you two go and change." Ellie pushes her fiancé off towards their bedroom. Chuck follows, glancing back at Sarah, cocking his head toward his room. Sarah excuses herself and follows his to his room.

She takes a seat on his bed while he takes some clothes from his drawers, saying he'll be right back before heading to the bathroom to change. Sarah takes the opportunity to take in Chuck's

room, not that she hasn't seen it before, but previously it's always been for surveillance. She peruses the stacks of video games, noticing that he's gotten a few new ones, before moving on to his bookshelf. Unsurprisingly is the number of science fiction books; surprisingly are the number of classics, from Jane Austin to Hemingway. Selecting Persuasion from the stacks, she settles down and opens the book to a random page and begins reading.

She only gets a few lines read before Chuck returns from the bathroom, unceremoniously dumping his shirt and pants in his laundry sack.

"You didn't have to accept, you know." Chuck starts out, dumping himself next to Sarah on his bed.

"This may come as a shock to you, Chuck, but I actually like your sister. Why wouldn't I accept her request?"

"Do you know where you're going to be in six months?"

"No, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Besides," Sarah tosses the book to the side before returning her attention to him, "what kind of real/fake girlfriend would I be if I didn't accept the offer to be the maid of honor to her boyfriend's best man title?" The teasing tone is in her voice full-fledged as Sarah straddles Chuck's waist, gently pressing her lips to his.

"Casey's listening." Chuck warns her, wrapping his arms around her waist regardless.

"Then let's give him something to listen to." She continues to kiss him, quickly allowing it to become more passionate. Before it can go too far, there is a knock on the door, followed by Ellie's voice telling them dinner is ready. Chuck allows his head to fall back against his headboard with a resounding thunk. Sarah only laughs, getting off his bed before heading to the door. Opening it, she turns to him.

"Do you need a minute?" She teases him.

"Nope." Chuck reluctantly gets off the bed and follows the blonde out to the table, holding out her chair for her before retrieving her wine glass and getting his own.

"So, Sarah, Chuck told me that you've got tomorrow off, right?" Devin looks up expectantly.

"That's right." Sarah replies, hesitantly. After all, when Captain Awesome starts off the conversation with something like that, it's not always a good thing.

"Awesome! Ellie and I were gonna spend the day at the beach. You two want to join us?"

"Uh," Sarah and Chuck share a glance, but before either of them can answer, Sarah's phone goes off, with a tune no one present would have expected.

"I kissed a girl, just to try it, taste of her cherry chapstick, I kissed a girl, just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it…"

Sarah darts up to retrieve the offending device before anymore of the lyrics can make themselves heard. Silencing the device, she looks up embarrassingly and is met by three very shocked faces; taking a quick look at the caller id, her eyes go wide before she excuses herself and goes into the courtyard to take the call.

"I never would have taken Sarah for a Katy Perry fan." Ellie breaks the silence after a moment.

"Same here. Any ideas who could be the caller, Chuck?" Devin and Ellie look to him expectantly.

"Nope." Conversation is halted by a soft thud coming from the front door. "That sounded suspiciously like someone's head hitting wood." Further conversation is stopped by the front door opening and Sarah returning.

"Is everything okay, Sarah?" Ellie, ever the comforter, immediately takes in the look of despair on Sarah's face, though it is quickly schooled by the time she resumes her seat.

"Perfect. So, beach tomorrow. I'm in, Chuck?" Sarah glares at her boyfriend, who quickly agrees.

"Yeah, yeah, totally, I'm in."

"Great!"

"Sarah, I gotta admit, your overzealous, false enthusiasm is kinda freaking me out." Chuck states, with his trademark grin.

"Wait until tomorrow."

* * *

"Dude, what is up with the excessive number of cyclists?" Devin questions while dumping the cooler of drinks down next to their gear.

"It's the LA Triathlon." Sarah comments, dropping the bag of gear, including Frisbees, footballs and other beach toys.

"And Awesome isn't out there? Are you not feeling well, man?" Chuck appears with two umbrellas and begins setting them up, laying out their towels and setting up the beach chairs. He takes the mock hit of disapproval from his sister who reaches in the cooler for a beer, silently offering one to everyone else.

"It's the West Coast Trials, only 100 competitors." Sarah takes a seat, accepting the beer from Ellie, before passing one more on to Chuck.

"And how exactly do you know that, Sarah?"

Sarah merely smiles mysteriously before sliding on her sunglasses and staring out at the ocean. Chuck shrugs at Ellie and Devin's questioning glances before stripping off his shirt and following suit of donning sunglasses and staring out to nothingness.

Several hours later, Morgan, Anna, and Casey have all joined the family and are separated into their activity groups. Devin has rented two surf boards and is walking his fiancée through the finer points of surfing, while Morgan, Chuck and Sarah are tossing a Frisbee around, and Casey is setting up an enclosed bonfire to cook lunch in while ignoring Anna, who is trying to 'help'.

The group looks up collectively when an overly obnoxious wolf whistle comes from behind them. They notice the blonde just as she manages to hurl herself at Sarah, who is only just able to catch herself and prevent the pair from falling onto the sand. The group looks on astonished when Sarah doesn't toss the woman to the ground – as Chuck and Casey expected – and instead throws her arms around the woman in a bear hug, spinning in a circle with the momentum.

Finally the pair separates and turns to see the entire group looking on expectantly waiting for an explanation. Sarah introduces everyone in turn.

"Rams, this is my boyfriend, Chuck, his sister Ellie and her fiancé, Devin. Chuck's best friend, Morgan, Morgan's girlfriend, Anna, and John Casey, he's Chuck and Ellie's neighbor. Everyone, this is Ramsey, my sister."

"Really! Fantastic to meet you!" Ellie and Devin quickly move in for a hug. Chuck hangs back however, not fully believing it. Sarah notices and goes to him, taking his hand.

"She really is my sister, Chuck." Sarah comments to him softly, meeting his gaze, she continues, "we'll talk later."

The pair shares a smile before Ramsey makes her way over, where Chuck gives her a smile and hug in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Ramsey."

"Likewise. I've heard a lot about you."

"Really?!"

"Oh yeah, we might not speak to our parents much, but when we work for the same company, we're bound to run into each other occasionally."

"So you're – uh, you work with – uhm – you and Sarah work for the same company?" Chuck finally manages to get some sort of sentence out.

"In different capacities, yes." Ramsey looks over her shoulder and sees Ellie approaching them and simply smiles. "It's so wonderful to finally get to meet all of you. Sarah has been talking about all of you nonstop for the past year and it's great to finally have a face to put to the names."

"It's great to finally get to meet some of Sarah's family. She never mentioned that you were going to be in town."

"Yeah, things at work have been crazy. I signed up for this triathlon last year and completely forgot about it until I got my race packet in the mail two days ago."

"Wait, you just ran the triathlon?" Chuck comments in disbelief.

"Yeah, so?" She stares at him blankly, daring him to continue.

"No reason." Chuck coughs uncomfortably not relaxing until he sees a smile cross Ramsey's face.

"It's okay, Chuck. I promise you there's nothing that you could think or say that hasn't already been voiced before."

"Like triathletes are crazy?" Sarah teases.

"Don't suppose you'd be up for a relay next week, would you?"

"But who would we get for the bike section."

"Devin looks like he could handle it."

"Devin looks like he could handle what?" The man in question appears behind Ellie, slinging his arm around her.

"A triathlon relay. I rock the swim, and no one's faster on foot than Sarah, you up for taking over the bike portion? It's only a half triathlon, so you'd only have to do 50 miles."

"Totally! When and where?" Devin looks like a kid on Christmas day looking between the two sisters.

"Next week, Napa Valley. Sure you can handle it? That's a pretty hilly area."

"No problem! I'm in."

"Awesome." Ramsey looks between Devin – who's still grinning like an idiot – and Sarah – who's shaking her head in disbelief.

* * *

"Hey." Sarah comes up behind Chuck, who's sitting just close enough to the water's edge to allow the tide to cover his feet each time it comes up. She situates herself between his legs, and allows him to wrap his arms around her.

"Hey. So that really is your sister."

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing, just not seeing much resemblance. Her hair's darker, green eyes, she's probably a good foot shorter…"

"I'm a cold-hearted CIA Agent, and she trains incoming agents while running marathons and triathlons in her spare time. I'm very business-like, while she's basically still stuck in her sorority days." Sarah looks over her shoulder at him with a smile.

"I wouldn't put it quite like that, but yeah. Wait, she trains agents?"

"Yeah, we went through the Farm together, but she never liked going out on assignments. We rocked the CIA working together – a regular dream team – but she always preferred being behind-the-scenes."

"What did her 'Greek life' personality make her a liability?"

"On the contrary, it was a large part of what made her so invaluable. Easy to underestimate her. It just wasn't the life for her. It takes a special kind of person to be a deep-cover operative, and she never wanted that life." Sarah falls silent for a moment before speaking up again. "I never did understand the appeal that life held to her…until this assignment."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Sarah ends the conversation leaning back into his embrace while they watch the sunset together.

Back with the group, Ramsey looks over to the couple at the water's edge.

"Have you ever seen a more perfect couple?" She looks over to see Ellie approach with a smile.

"Nope, but let's give them their privacy." The pair turns back to the group, allowing the pair their privacy.


	3. Mountain vacation

Alright, here's the next chapter, sorry about the wait, my computer got zapped last week and is currently at Geek Squad getting fixed. I had to write this one out by hand than use my roommate's computer to submit it. Hope that you like it.

* * *

"Seriously Sarah, how did you get this room for the week?" Devon exits the bedroom of the suite he and Ellie claimed for their own. Not waiting for an answer, he grabs two bags that contain his snowboard and Ellie's skis and returns to the room to drop them off before returning and taking a seat on one of the couches.

"Some friends booked the suite, but most had to back out, so they offered it to me – us." Sarah amends that last bit.

"Nice friends." Ellie takes a seat next to Devon as Chuck sits down next to Sarah, keeping a bit of distance. The visit from Bryce the previous week still resides fresh in his memory.

"Are any of them still coming?" Devon elaborates, "You said 'most' backed out."

"Yeah, two are still coming, and no, I don't know which two."

* * *

"So, who are the agents joining us this week?" Chuck asks Sarah as the couple is unpacking their things.

"No idea, but General Beckman said that I'd know who they were and real names were going to be used.

"NO WAY!" They share a glance at Devon's exclamation before heading out to the common area to investigate.

Exiting the bedroom they see the backs of a man and woman helping the bellhop unload their bags from the cart. Devon remains standing there with a star-struck look while Ellie stands by in confusion. The woman stands and faces the foursome. Chuck registers Sarah's soft intake of breath before she plasters a smile on her face and moves forward for a hug.

"Laura! Hey, I was hoping that you would be one of the ones to make it."

"What about me?" The guy behind them speaks up, causing the women to separate. Sarah moves to him for a hug, which he warmly returns.

"Hey, Nate. How are you?"

"I've got a week of boarding for fun, what is there to complain about?"

"Point taken." Sarah remembers the trio behind them and turns for introductions. "This is my boyfriend, Chuck, his sister, Ellie, and Ellie's fiancé, Devon. Guys, this is Nate Marshall, and-"

"Laura Montgomery." Devon finally speaks. "Awesome to meet you."

"He's a boarder." Sarah whispers, though everyone hears her.

"Right." Laura chuckles softly. "Nice to meet all of you." Sarah moves to retrieve one of her bags.

"Let's get you settled, then we'll head downstairs for dinner."

* * *

"So how do you two know each other?" Devon waves his fork between Laura and Sarah in question, which the former answers.

"Collegiate lesbian fling." Laura calmly continues eating, ignoring that both Chuck and Devon are choking on their food, while Ellie has inhaled the sip of wine she'd just had. Sarah and Nate continue eating indifferently.

Once recovered, Devon takes a breath before speaking.

"Seriously?" He looks between the two. With no objections made, he gets a far-away look, as if picturing the two women together. Ellie smacks him upside the head, smacking him out of his imagery.

"Sorry babe," he smiles, begging for forgiveness. When Ellie smiles in indulgence, he looks back across the table to see Sarah, Laura and Nate chuckling softly. "You're messing with me, aren't you?'

"Sorry," Laura recovers enough to respond.

"Ladies and gentlemen: my younger sisters." Nate finally recovers first.

"Wait? You three are siblings?" Chuck responds in shock.

"You didn't know?" Ellie is the one that's shocked this time.

"I know Chuck isn't quite into extreme sports, but I don't tell people about Nate and Laura unless I know it's going somewhere." Sarah is quick to respond.

"Why?"

"We spend our lives surrounded by extreme athletes." Nate answers this time. "And extreme sports – while it won't be an Olympic sport anytime soon – is still the fastest growing sport around."

"And I dated a few guys in college that used me in an attempt to break into the games." Sarah finished. "Eventually it became a second nature to not speak of them."

"Okay." Ellie accepts. "So what's the age difference?"

"Uh, Sarah is four minutes older than me, and Nate is nine years older than us."

"So what do you do, Nate?"

"I'm a photojournalist. I created X-treme Games magazine."

"Wait." Devon speaks up, pointing to each in turn as he speaks next. "Walker, Montgomery, and Marshall…if you three are siblings, why do you have different last names? And which is your real last name?"

"Neither." Nate answers the second question. "And to answer the first question: our father is a real bastard. None of us wanted any association with him, so we picked new names to use professionally."

"Drop it, Devon." Sarah stops him this time. "Please."

The group falls silent for a moment before conversation picks up again. This time conversation is much lighter, though Chuck notices that the three siblings easily manage to avoid going in-depth on any other answers.

* * *

"So, how long have you two been CIA?" Sarah demands the next day when the three are alone on a chair-lift.

"I was approached after I took the ASVAB senior year. My agent those first two years was also my handler/trainer. He trained me on the road. I don't get called up that often though, because I refuse to give up my civilian life."

Sarah turns to Nate next, waiting on his answer.

"I was recruited Freshman year. I wanted to write politics and war correspondence, so they thought it would double as the perfect cover."

"And you created X-treme Games right after we graduated from high school." A look of realization crosses her face.

"They refused to listen when I asked they leave you two alone. I figured I could watch after Laura while trying to find a way to keep them from you." The three siblings jump off at the top and wait for the others.

"Are you sure that you want to do this course, Chuck?" Sarah worriedly questions as they pass the sign with three black diamonds and the course name on it.

"I might not be able to keep up with Laura here, but I can hold my own on a board." Chuck adjusts his goggles while weaving his way to the start. Sarah looks to Ellie and Devon for reassurance, though she doesn't seem any less worried after receiving it.

"Whatever. See ya'll at the bottom." Laura tugs on Nate's arm and they take off down the mountain. Ellie and Devon go next, giving a smile to the younger couple.

"You sure about this Chuck?"

"Too late to back down now. Relax, I'll be fine." He pats her on the arm before starting down the slope. Sarah watches him for a bit before following.

* * *

Montage of boarding scenes.

* * *

"I stand corrected." Sarah comments at the bottom.

"I told you so." Chuck grins, pulling a bottle of water from his side pocket. Taking a sip, he offers it to her, taking it back once she's had her fill.

"WATCH OUT!" Someone to the side shouts. Before they can respond, Sarah is knocked into Chuck and they both fall to the ground. Before rising, Sarah looks around for danger. Several feet away she sees a woman helping a young man to his feet, unstraping his boots from the board. The young man dusts himself off and heads over to them.

"I am so sorry, ma'am. It's my first time on a snowboard." He helps Sarah to her feet, holding her steady before turning and offering a hand to Chuck. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Fine, thanks." Chuck responds amicable, looking up at the man. His smile freezes on his face in recognition. Sarah is quick to recognize the signs of a flash. It's over quickly and Chuck shakes his head as if to clear it.

"Are you sure you're alright, sir? Perhaps we should get you to the medical tent?"

"Everything okay, Chuckles?" Devon comes upon them.

"Fine, just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine though." Chuck turns to the young man that knocked them over. "Really."

"If you say so. I'm sorry again sir." The young man walks off, picking up his board and following the girl he was with.

"You sure you're alright, bro?" Devon asks again, all joking gone from his voice.

"Yeah, fine. Let's head to the next slope." Chuck pulls Sarah along as he weaves toward the lift. This one only allows two per seat and as soon as they've pulled away, Sarah turns to Chuck.

"What did you see?"

"The man's name is Daniel Wilder. But he's not the one we want, his girlfriend is. She's an assassin for Fulcrum."

"Okay. Laura and Nate are two ahead of us. They'll stop at the top. We'll get the intel to them and get it passed on."

* * *

"Only you and Bartowski could stumble on something like this on vacation, Walker." Casey grumbles over the line.

"What do you mean?" Sarah stops pacing the bathroom. "This isn't a mission?"

"No. Agent Marshall put in the request, Bartowski went along to enforce your cover and Ellie and Woodcomb went with you two as a cover for your fake mission."

"Maybe the General isn't so bad after all."

"Watch it, Walker. That's my CO you're talking about."

"Yes, major. Just do what's necessary. Call me with the next step."

"Yeah." The line goes dead. She opens the door to find Chuck standing there with a desperate look.

"Laura and Nate left. Devon wants to go out. Please don't make me." He pleads.

Sarah hears footsteps approaching the door and acts fast, whipping her shirt over her head and jumping on the counter in one fluid movement. Dragging a wide-eyed Chuck to stand between her legs, she fuses their mouths together a heartbeat before Devon appears.

"Hey, Chuckles – Whoa, sorry, bro." He averts his eyes from Sarah's half-naked form after surprising the pair.

"What's up, Devon?" Chuck keeps his face in Sarah's neck to avoid his eyes straying elsewhere.

"Um, Ellie and I were gonna go for a walk, see if there were any good clubs, get a drink maybe, uhm." He quickly glances over, averting his gaze again when he sees they haven't moved.

"If it's okay with you Devon, I was hoping Chuck and I could stay in." Sarah answers, innuendo heavy in her tone. Devon's profile shows him grinning broadly.

"No prob. You kids have fun." With that, he leaves. They hear him saying something to Ellie; as soon as they hear the door shut, Chuck steps away, handing Sarah her shirt and looking away while she puts it on."

"Thanks." He softly states before quickly leaving.

* * *

"Hey." Sarah looks up at hearing her sister's voice following the sliding glass door opening and shutting.

"Hey." Sarah scoots over on the chair, lifting the blanket covering her lap so Laura can slide in net to her. The pair is silent for a long time before Laura speaks up.

"There's something I've come to realize over the years." Laura takes a deep breath, continuing on before Sarah can comment. "We three have intimacy issues. More you and me than Nate, but we do. It makes us good at what we do. No close relationships, hell, no friendships, no ties to one area, it makes it easier for us to move on when the mission is over. But it's no way to live. Man cannot live on murder alone. He needs affection, approval, encouragement, and occasionally a hearty meal."

"A dad quote." Sarah comments softly.

"Well, technically its an Alfred Hitchcock quote." The sisters share a soft laugh. You ever stop to think of how much he affected our lives?

"Not really," Sarah responds. "Not until recently."

"How so?"

"Their mom left when they were younger and their dad more or less ignored them. But they managed to turn out so well."

"And we didn't. Such proves the power of abandonment during our most formative years. Is that what's stopping you from admitting to yourself that you love him?"

Sarah doesn't verbally respond, just nods her head before curling into her sister for comfort. "But I can't let him in knowing that one day I'm going to have to leave."

"Maybe you won't have to." Laura responds mysteriously. Sarah sits up straight and pins her sister with a hard look.

"What do you mean?"

"The higher ups are trying to get me a permanent assignment. You and I both know I'll never settle down romantically. An analyst's position isn't as bad as you think."

"Are you suggesting replacing me as Chuck's handler? No offense, but I doubt you've got the security clearance to get in on this assignment. And since we've had some security issues lately, clearance is harder to get than you'd think."

"I have nothing to hide, I'll get the clearance. Just think about it okay."

"Okay." They hear a door slide open to their left and look over to see Chuck step out. Looking around, he spots them and grins apologetically before returning to the room.

"He's worth it." Laura gets up and returns inside, leaving Sarah alone with her thoughts. After a heartbeat of hesitation, she gets up and goes into the room she's sharing with Chuck.

Chuck is sitting in bed under the covers reading a book. Sarah crawls across the bed, curling one leg under her and propping her chin on her knee. She stares at Chuck silently, waiting until he looks up to meet her gaze, waiting for her to speak.

"Lisa." Her voice is soft, but confident. "My middle name is Lisa." She continues, answering the silent question in Chuck's gaze. He marks his place and puts the book on the side table, giving Sarah his full attention.

"Why?"

"Because I want this. For the first time, I'm having problems separating. I can't tell you everything about my past, but what I can, I want to." Sarah looks down, unable to meet his gaze for what she has to say next. "You're not the only one that had wondered what it will be like when we finally get the Intersect out of your head. And it kills me every time I have to say that you're just an asset, because you've become so much more than that." She falls silent as she waits for his response. Eventually she can't take it and looks up hesitantly, relaxing when she sees that he's smiling. He pushes the covers down as far as he can and opens his arm out for her to join him. She strips off the sweater she was wearing outside and slides under the covers, hesitating momentarily before curling into his side. She doesn't relax fully until she feels him rest his arm around her body, pulling her tight.

"So, is there some rule to this?" Chuck breaks the silence.

"Rule?"

"Yeah, like one true fact a week, month, day?" Chuck adds hopefully.

"I don't know. We'll see."

"If I ask, will you answer?"

"Depends. What do you want to ask?" Chuck takes a moment to think.

"Which parent do you resemble?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well, it's clear that you and Laura are fraternal twins, the only thing you have in common is your height."

"I take after my mom's mom, but mom takes after her dad. Laura looks like Dad's dad, but he looks like his mom, so you'd never really know who we look like unless you know our grandparents."

"Okay." Chuck seems satisfied with this new information and settles down to fall asleep.

Sarah, however, remains awake, wondering what direction this relationship will now take.

* * *

The next day, Sarah gets a call from Casey. An NSA strike team moved on Daniel Wilder and his girlfriend, capturing them both. This allowed them the opportunity to enjoy the remainder of the week fully, not having to look over their shoulders for a Fulcrum assassin at every turn. On the last day, as they're all hugging good-bye, Sarah pulls Laura into her arms to whisper in her ear:

"Make the call."


	4. The doctor

Okay folks, so I once saw this special on TV about the very prosthetic design mentioned later in this story, though I don't remember the details, so try not to rip into me too much if I got any of the details wrong.

* * *

"Hey, sis." Chuck enters the kitchen, retrieving two beers from the fridge before noticing that his sister is making one of her fancy dinners. "What's with the fancy dinner?"

"Ah, new doctor at the hospital is coming for dinner." Notices the two beers, "Is Sarah coming over?" The question is answered when the blonde appears behind him, plucking one of the beers from Chuck's hand.

"Hey, Ellie."

"Sarah, hey. You two have plans for tonight?"

"I will get her score on Rock Band above 60." Chuck states with determination, ignoring the looks of exasperation the women share.

"Right, well, have fun, and try not to make too much noise. Remember, we're trying to make a good impression on this woman."

"Why? Will she leave the hospital if she doesn't like you?" Chuck jokes around.

"Kid not, little brother. Doctor Winchester is here on a ten million dollar grant from the military, using our hospital as ground zero for her life work. The last thing that we need is for her to pull out. If she decides to take root here then Our Lady of Mercy Hospital gets an entirely new physical therapy/orthopedics building as well as a massive grant for the surgical department."

"In that case, we'll leave you alone."

"Morgan?" Ellie questions her brother.

"Anna's parents are in town, they're having dinner tonight."

"Good. The last thing I need is for him to show up and ruin the evening." Ellie bustles around the kitchen, not noticing when the younger pair says goodnight and leaves the kitchen.

Several hours later, the plates are empty and Emily Winchester is helping Ellie clean up from dinner.

"You really don't have to help, doctor."

"Call me Emily and maybe I'll listen." Regardless, the blonde doctor retrieves her wine glass and sits back. "Why are you so worried about impressing me?"

"Just don't want you to pull out of the hospital."

"No worries there. I've been reviewing dozens of hospitals in my quest to choose the one that would host this program. Our Lady of Mercy was by far the best choice. So all this kissing up is unnecessary."

"Can you tell that to the Chief of Staff? Cause she's the one that really needs to hear that."

"Nah, it's actually quite entertaining to watch her trip over herself in the attempt to keep me at the hospital."

"Very well." Ellie shares a laugh with the older doctor before grabbing her own wine glass and heading to the couch. About to sit down, she notices that the other woman stopped at a photo on the bookshelf.

"Who is this couple?" Emily asks curiously, pointing to a photo of Chuck and Sarah. Ellie joins her to see what photo she's referring to.

"That's my younger brother, Chuck, and his girlfriend, Sarah. That was taken, ummm…six weeks ago, I think. Devon and I went hiking a while back and they joined us."

"What do they do?" Emily doesn't take her eyes off of the photo, a fact which does not go unnoticed by Ellie.

"Chuck just finished his degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, he's working at the Buy more until he figures out what to do next. Sarah works at a local yogurt shop, and I'm not totally sure why. It's clear that she's so much smarter than that."

"Clearly your brother is too smart for the Buy More, but he's still there. I had a friend from undergrad that went through law school and after three years of practicing at some high priced firm, she took a leave of absence and spent four years as the manager of a bagel shop. Now she works for Lawyers without Limits. Sometimes you just need a break from life to reevaluate things."

"I suppose. She does drive a Porsche, so clearly she did something high-paying before moving out here. Makes me think that they really are perfect for each other."

"You wouldn't think so otherwise?" Emily finally moves to the couch, though her gaze often passes over the photo.

"They seem to be discovering their world together, plus I haven't seen Chuck this happy since Stanford."

"What? I thought you said he just graduated from there?"

"Yeah, about 5 ½ years ago he was a senior there. In his last semester, he was falsely accused of cheating and eventually expelled. Then the guy that accused him of cheating stole his girlfriend and Chuck hadn't been the same since. He eventually finished his degree online this past year. Sarah definitely had something to do with that, though she claims no credit. Now…now there's a light back in his eyes that hasn't been there for a very long time, and Sarah clearly had something to do with it."

"Telling my life story to every stranger now, sis?" The pair looks up to see Chuck standing in the kitchen, retrieving some more beers. The look in his eyes clearly states that he's joking around with her.

"Just the part about how proud I am that you overcame it all and are now making something of yourself."

"Right." Chuck stops by the couch, introducing himself. "Chuck. You must be Doctor Winchester."

"Emily. Nice to meet you. Any ideas what you want to do with your new degree?"

"Not really. I suppose I'll just wait and see what falls into my lap."

"It might happen here and now. I've got a staff of engineers on my team, we could always use more."

"Um, I don't really do so well with blood."

"No worries, I think I'm the only engineer that actually steps foot in the OR."

"In that case, may I ask what you would need an engineer for? And what kind of engineer is also a doctor?"

"Technically I'm a double doctor. I've got my MD as well as a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering."

"Biomedical? Like engineering viruses?"

"That's one way of putting it. In my case, I'm designing new forms of prosthetics; specifically the kind that would allow injured vets to remain in with little to no difficulty of staying in after a medical review board. How about you stop by the hospital tomorrow and see the set-up? Maybe you may find yourself a spot there."

"Uh, yeah, sure. I will, thank you." Chuck shakes her hand one last time, glancing to his sister to see her grinning in ecstasy. "I had better get back."

"Gotten the 60 yet?" Ellie asks.

"Almost." Chuck grins at them one last time before heading back into his room. Once gone, Emily turns back to face the younger doctor, slightly confused at the large grin on her face.

"Any particular reason why you just did that? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"No. We could always use a qualified engineer, plus we lost one just before coming out here. His wife is expecting and he didn't want to uproot them when their entire support system was in Bethesda."

"Regardless, thank you."

* * *

"I wasn't aware that getting two drinks took so long." Sarah joked with Chuck as he entered, still slightly in shock over what just transpired. "Chuck? Is everything okay?" Taking the drinks from his hands, he snaps out of his trance.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine…I just got a job interview with the new doctor at Ellie's hospital."

"Really? For what job?"

"As an engineer." Chuck goes over to his computer, thankful that he left it on that day. Quickly he pulls up his resume, typing in his new education information.

"You never updated your resume?" Sarah comes up behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"No. I guess I was a little afraid to. Like if I did then the diploma wouldn't be real. Can I still put down all my honors and activities from when I was there first time?"

"I don't see why not. In getting your diploma we had your expulsion overturned, so there's no record of it on your permanent record; all of your previous honors still stand."

"Really?" Chuck turns to look at her. "You didn't tell me that."

"When we first got you the diploma, your expulsion was still on the record. The appeal was just recently done. That takes a little bit more work than a diploma."

"Thank you." Chuck smiles at her softly before returning his attention to the document on his monitor. With a few quick keystrokes and the entrance of heavy paper on his printer, his new resume is being printed off. Sarah picks it up off the tray, glancing over it with appreciation.

"Here's to your new life." Sarah hands it over to him before resuming her seat on the bed. Chuck stares at the resume for a moment before sliding it into a folder to keep it neat and joining Sarah on the bed. They lay side-by-side, simply staring up at the ceiling, enjoying each other's silence.

"Is Casey listening in?" Chuck breaks the silence.

"He shouldn't be. He listens in for protection, and if I'm here then there's nothing for him to worry about."

"Good." Before Sarah can question his cryptic comment, she's caught by surprise as Chuck leans over her, capturing her lips with his. The kiss is brief, but intense. Once he pulls away, Sarah stares at him softly, the question obvious.

"I'm just so happy. For once I've got an option besides the Buy More."

"You've always had other options. I told you once before, you can do anything and have anything you want."

"I want you." Chuck's voice is quiet, but confident. "Can I have that?"

"You've had me since 'that's from Batman', Chuck." Slowly Chuck's trademark grin spreads across his face, matching the one on Sarah's. Placing her hands behind his neck, Sarah slowly pulls him in.

They only separate when Ellie enters as she's knocking, though still slowly, ignoring the woman while she sputters out an apology.

"What is it, sis?" Chuck finally draws his attention away from the blonde beneath him.

"Um, Emily left, I wanted to see if I could iron a shirt for you for tomorrow. But I'll just get one in the morning." Ellie goes to leave, returning just before she shuts the door completely. "I'm going in at nine, tomorrow morning if you want to share a ride." She leaves for good this time, firmly shutting the door behind her. Reluctantly Chuck gets to his feet and digs through his drawers. Turning around he throws Sarah the shirt and boxers he pulled out before moving to head to the bathroom.

"Does this mean that I'm staying tonight?" Sarah questions coyly.

"Darn straight." He comments before heading out.

* * *

Chuck enters the large room in the hospital, nodding his thanks to the intern that showed him the way. Nervously he smoothes his tie down, searching the room for Dr. Winchester. Spotting her at the opposite end of the room, he heads over to her, stepping around a couple workstations on the way. Stopping several feet from her, he observes her, waiting for her to finish what she's doing before speaking.

"Good morning, doctor." Emily spins around, a large smile spreading across her face when she sees who it is.

"Chuck! Good morning. How are you doing today?" She digs through a drawer for a large manual, still paying attention to her guest.

"Not bad. How about you?"

"I don't suppose that I can really complain?" Finding the proper manual, she motions for Chuck to follow her out the room and into her office next door. "Have a seat." She sits behind her desk while Chuck takes a seat in one of the chairs across from her.

"Relax, Chuck. This isn't an inquisition."

"Sorry, I'm a little out of practice when it comes to interviewing." He takes the manual that Emily holds out to him. "What's this?"

"Take a look. It's what we're doing here." Chuck flips through the manual while Emily continues speaking. "Awhile back, a couple doctors came up with the idea of creating a prosthetic limb that would have the ability to read the nerve impulses in the residual limb, making it so that the prosthetic would be able to move more naturally, more like an actual limb. Unfortunately their planning fell short and they were forced to drop the project…until I came across their old research and took it up.

"The surgical part of this program is that chip," she motions to a page Chuck is open to. "It's surgically placed in the stump, and that chip is what reads the impulses, and then transmits the information to another such bit in the prosthetic. The trial and error bit is that there's no way to test the first chip unless it is actually in the limb-"

"So if there's a problem, it has to be removed, fixed, and reinserted." Chuck finishes for her.

"That's the program in a nutshell. Eventually our goal is that we'll only have to put it in once, but we're still a ways off from that. The human mind is still largely unknown. We know this works; we just can't get it right.

"Wires are getting crossed somewhere. The patient thinks 'flex your wrist', and the chip will read 'rotate the wrist'. That's where you would come in…if you're on board."

"Can I think about it?" Chuck looks up finally. "And can I take this with me to look over while I'm thinking?" He holds up the manual.

"Sure. I'd say take your time, but I'd need to know sooner rather than later if you're going to be joining us."

"If I do, I'd have to give my notice at the Buy More, so it'd be at least two weeks."

"I can give you till the end of the month."

"Deal." Chuck returns her broad smile, glancing to the side eventually. His gaze falls on a photo of two girls – rather one teenager and one young girl. "Are those your kids?"

"I look old enough to have a teenager, Mr. Bartowski?"

"What! No – of course not! I'm just-" Chuck stutters in an attempt to get out of the hole he's dug.

"Relax, I'm joking with you." Emily stares at the photo sadly. "That's my sister and I, the last time I saw her."

"That photo looks at least 10 years old."

"Closer to twenty, actually, 18 to be exact. I was 19, she was ten. Our mom had just died, I returned to college, and dad took off with Sarah, never to be seen or heard from again. I don't even know if they're alive. These are my kids." Emily hands him another photo, this one of a young girl and boy. "Laura is five, and Nathan will be two in six weeks."

"They're beautiful." Chuck hands the photo back, a look of speculation crossing his features. "I had better let you get back to work."

"Stop by later this week, I'll give you a tour of the program."

"Anything to get me to join, huh?"

"We'll more than likely be remaining right here, Chuck. You'd never have to leave your friends and family."

"I'll think about it."

* * *

Before Chuck even has the opportunity to drop his bag and shed his coat, he's assaulted by Captain Awesome with a bear hug.

"Congrats, bro! Ellie just told me the good news."

"What – news - ?" Chuck gasps out after he's released.

"Dude, the new job. How awesome is this? We three will be working together!" Tucking Chuck under one arm, he pulls Ellie close with his other arm. "Group hug!"

"Ack! Devon! First of all," Chuck wiggles loose. "Oxygen is necessary for survival. Second of all: I haven't accepted the job yet."

"What?! Why not?" Ellie shoves her way out of her fiancé's arms to smack her brother on the arm in exasperation.

"Ow! I told her I'd think about it, and read this while doing so." Chuck holds up the massive manual of much of the program's work.

"What is there to think about? It's a great job and you'll be starting at the beginning. Think of what the success of this project will do for you."

"It's just a big change, Ellie." With no further comment, Chuck walks around the pair into his room, shutting the door and immediately shedding his tie and dress clothes, pulling on jeans and a t-shirt and collapsing on his bed.

After a time there is a soft knock on his door, which he ignores. Eventually the door opens and then is softly closed, admitting Sarah, who gently lays down beside him. The pair is long silent before Chuck speaks up.

"If I correctly guess something about your past, will you confirm it?"

"It all depends on what you guess, you know that."

"Your mom died when you were ten and your sister was 19." Chuck is met by silence which causes him to roll to his side. The look on Sarah's face can only be described as shock.

"How-?"

"I'm 99 percent certain that the new doctor at Ellie's hospital – the one that was here last night for dinner – is your sister. See, when she mentioned her sister today, she said her name was Sarah. I thought you said that wasn't your name."

"I asked you if you really thought my name was Sarah, I never said that it wasn't."

"So who was Jenny Burton?"

"Every time my dad moved us after my mom died, he gave us new names. And please don't ask me why, because that I won't ever tell you if I can help it. Not because I don't care about you, but because I just can't talk about it."

"Okay, then I won't ask. What do you say to having lunch with her tomorrow? I think she'd like to see you."

"What makes you think that? I haven't seen her since I was ten years old; I doubt she'd even recognize me."

"She would."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I recognized you in her. Trust me, she'll recognize you."

"Okay, if you make the call."

"I'll do anything for you, you know that."

"Is it okay if I stay here tonight?"

"Of course." He gives her a quick kiss before getting up and getting her a fresh t-shirt and bottoms, handing them to her before once again going to the bathroom to change, allowing her privacy in the bedroom.

* * *

"Isn't this supposed to go the other way around?" Chuck takes a seat at a table across from Emily. "Aren't I supposed to take you out to butter you up?"

"This isn't buttering up." Chuck takes a deep breath before continuing on. "I think your younger sister is my girlfriend."

"I know she is." Chuck's head shoots up at the comment from the older woman's mouth.

"How-"

"I saw a photo of the two of you the other night at your place. Sarah…she looks just like our mother. I knew it was her. I was just trying to figure out how to bring it up."

"Well, she's going to be here in about ten minutes."

"Fantastic." The two shift nervously, trying to figure out what to say. Emily finally breaks the silence. "So why did you schedule so much time before she made her appearance?"

"I'm not usually one for the direct approach. We both figured that I would be stumbling over my words for a bit before actually saying what I needed to say."

"Ah. You really love her don't you?" Chuck doesn't hesitate to answer.

"Yeah. With all my heart."

"Heh, okay. Given that you're the first boyfriend of hers that I've met, I don't suppose that I can really make any comparisons…but you'll do."

"Thanks. And if it helps you any, I _have_ met one of her exes…he's what you would call a… what's the word? A douche bag?"

Emily laughs out loud at this. "Sounds like you were no great fan of his."

"Yeah, well, I knew the guy on my first go-around at Stanford. He wasn't a bad guy, he just often went about helping people in the wrong way." Chuck looks up and over Emily's shoulder, noticing someone off to the side. Emily turns after noticing the large smile crossing her dining partner's face.

* * *

Sarah stops at the corner of the street, a few yards down from where Chuck and her sister are waiting. A soft smile crosses her face when she sees the two of them getting along so well. Seeing Chuck beam brightly at her, causing her sister to turn around, she takes a deep breath and continues forward.

* * *

Emily gets to her feet when she sees Sarah approaching. Waiting barely a heartbeat, she throws her arms around her younger sister and holds tight. After a moment of shock, Sarah warmly returns the hug.

"This one's definitely a keeper, kid." Emily whispers in Sarah's ear just before releasing her, though she still keeps her hands on Sarah's arms, almost afraid she'll disappear if she lets go. Eventually she does once Chuck holds out a seat for her. The trio sits down and orders coffee from the waitress. Once the woman is gone, the group is silent, no one knowing what to say. Finally Chuck speaks.

"So, Emily, when is your family joining you?" The older woman shoots him a grateful look before allowing a soft smile to overtake her face. Sarah looks on with interest, not knowing anything.

"My husband is remaining behind in Bethesda with our kids so that Laura can finish out the school year. They'll be out here in three weeks."

"Laura?" Sarah questions. Emily reaches into her purse, pulling a photo out of her wallet, handing it over to Sarah.

"My daughter, then there's my son, Nathan, and my husband, Matthew – Matt."

Sarah takes in the young girl with dark brown curls and bright blue eyes before moving on to the young boy with his mother's dirty blonde hair and his father's sea green eyes before focusing on her brother-in-law. The man looks to be a few years older than her sister, with dark brown hair and the same green eyes she noticed on her nephew. She hands the photo back to her sister.

"They're beautiful. What does Matt do? How did you two meet?"

"We met when I was a third year resident. He was a seventh year surgical resident. He transferred to Bethesda for his last year to make for an easier transition when he started there after he completed his boards. At least that's what he'll tell you. He really transferred because his brother was wounded during a training accident and was spending his convalescent leave at their mother's house and he wanted to help out with him."

"Bethesda is a military hospital-" Sarah starts out.

"And I'm in the military." Emily finishes. "I joined to help pay for medical school. By the time I finished my residency, my research was starting to take off, so I petitioned the DOD and managed to remain stateside. Not that I would have been sent off anyways. I had just given birth to Laura at the time, and when I was cleared for duty, Nathan was overseas, so they kept me at Bethesda; and he returned injured, and then by the time he was cleared, I was pregnant with Nathan."

"Sounds like a sure-fire way to get out of a deployment." Sarah jokes, which Emily laughs along to.

"Certainly sounds like it, doesn't it. It wasn't intentional, just managed to happen that way."

"So how was he injured?"

"By his own stupidity. He was lifting weights with a few of the sailors and Marines on board the carrier he was the surgeon on – they get into these competitions to see who can do even one bench press with increasing weight – he tried to press 320 pounds, couldn't, and wound up cracking his sternum and four ribs when his arms gave out."

"Right. Men and their egos?" Sarah questions, waiting to see if there's another explanation.

"With a side order of pride thrown in for good measure."

"Okay then. What does he do now?"

"His injury prevents him from ever being deployed, so he's finishing out his contract – which is another 15 months – and then he's joining my team."

"What about you? When does your contract end?" There is a hint of worry in Sarah's tone, though only Chuck is able to recognize it.

"Mine ended three months ago. So there's no worry about my job killing me – at least, there's no known worries. What about you? Ellie mentioned that you're working at a yogurt shop."

"Yeah." Sarah doesn't elaborate.

"Taking a break from life?"

"Something like that. I can't talk about it."

"Can't? Or won't?"

"Can't. Sorry."

"Okay." Before she can further comment, her pager goes off. Taking one quick glance at it, she pulls out her purse to pay for her drink. "I have to get to the hospital. I'm helping out the surgical department while the rest of my team gets here. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah." Chuck answers, while Sarah only nods. "You up for movie night?" Chuck continues. "It's tonight. Really laid back with pizza and beer. Seven?"

"I'll be there." Emily responds with a smile. After she's gone, Chuck turns to Sarah.

"So? Scale of 1-10, how bad was it?"

"Five maybe. Could have gone better, _definitely_ could have gone worse."

"Glad that I could help." Chuck places down money for the rest of the drinks before rising and offering a hand to Sarah. She gets to her feet and tucks herself into his side, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"What do you say to just relaxing until movie time?"

"Sure, and you need to tell Ellie and Devon that you invited Emily."

"Done. But how do we tell her that she's your sister?"

"Eh, let's just wait and see how it manages to come up in conversation."

"Okay."

* * *

Several hours later, Chuck and Sarah are cuddled on the couch resting while some TV show plays in the background, volume on low when Ellie and Devon walk in.

"Hey, Chuckles, Sarah. You ready for tonight?" Devon sheds his coat and drapes it across the chair.

"Yup. Oh, Ellie, I invited Dr. Winchester to come to movie night." Ellie pops back into the room at Chuck's announcement.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because she's my sister." Sarah speaks up from her position in Chuck's side.

"Really?" "Awesome!" Ellie and Devon exclaim.

"Now all we need is for you to accept the job she offered and we'd definitely be keeping all this in the family, Chuckles."

Chuck raises his eyebrows at Devon's less than subtle remark, causing Devon to smile apologetically at him, turning to his room to change.

"I think he's on to us, babe." Devon gives Ellie a kiss on the cheek as he passes her by.

Ellie takes a seat on the chair next to them. "I'll deal with you later, Chuck. Sarah, seriously? She's your sister?"

"Yup. I spoke with her earlier when I'd learned that she was moving to LA. I haven't seen her in years, so I figured we could start getting to know each other again. We decided to start with my life, since her family doesn't get here for another three weeks." Sarah tells the half truth, keeping herself molded to Chuck's side.

"Okay. Guess I had better call the pizza place and add another one to our order. It's your turn to pick out the movie, Chuck. Please don't choose Serenity again."

"Or Star Wars!" Devon calls from the bedroom.

"They know you so well." Sarah mumbles.

* * *

Several hours later, the credits to Young Frankenstein are playing out while Ellie and Emily begin to clean up the pizza boxes. Sarah and Chuck don't seem to have moved from their previous position, and Devon is in the bedroom taking a call from the hospital about a patient of his. Returning to pick up some empty beer bottles, Emily glances over at the young couple sleeping in each other's arms on the couch. A soft smile graces her face before she quietly returns to the kitchen.

"Maybe they are perfect for each other."

"Wait until you've seen more of them together." Ellie returns Emily's smile and the pair continue to clean up quietly.

* * *

Okay folks, I've got the bulk of the next couple stories written out, I just need to do some fine tuning and a final read through. Just a warning: If there are any CSI: Miami fans out there, I wrote one of the stories while watching an episode, so the character of Sarah's sister is more than loosely based on Calleigh. It's still gonna be awhile though, cause I've got a huge paper for Perception to finish up. In fact I wrote the bulk of this one while I should have been working on said paper.


	5. Saint Michael

There's this medallion that I wear, and I never take it off, and it drives my roommate crazy when she's dressing me for a night out. It's a medallion of Saint Michael that my grandmother gave me for my graduation from Parris Island, and I now wear it when my brother is overseas. It's like the yellow bow that my mother has on the cherry blossom tree in their front yard…neither is coming off/down until my brother is out of Iraq and safely back home.

So initially I was going to make this one short story about how Ellie notices the medallion Sarah's wearing, which she wears as the only tangible reminder to her that she's got family out there; and it was only going to be a story about the sister, but the sister wouldn't be making an appearance. Then I was going to write a second story where we'd actually get to meet the sister. But A) these stories are one-shots, and breaking it down would kind of screw that up, and B) I like the family storyline that the Chuck writers are putting out there for Sarah, and I wanted to do something that would explain where the sister is and where their mother is. And since the show portrayed Sarah with her father at the age of 10, I figured just before that would be a good place to separate them.

-----------

Michael is an archangel, one of the principal 50 angels in Christian and Islamic tradition. He is viewed as the field commander of the Army of God. In the book of Daniel, Michael appears as "one of the chief princes" who in Daniel's vision comes to the angel Gabriel's aid in his contest with the angel of Persia (Dobiel), and is also described there as the advocate of Israel and "great prince who stands up for the children of your [Daniel's] people".

The Talmudic tradition rendered Michael's name as meaning "who is like El?" In recent years, a popular mistake has become to translate the name as "One who is like God." It is, however, meant as a question: "Who is like the Lord?" The name was said to have been the battle cry of the angels in the war in heaven against Satan and his followers.

In late medieval Christianity, Michael, together with Saint George, became the patron saint of chivalry, and of the first chivalric order of France, the Order of Saint Michael of 1469. In the British honors system, a chivalric order founded in 1818 is also named for these two saints, the Order of St Michael and St George. St Michael is also considered in many Christian circles as the patron saint of the warrior. Police officers and soldiers, particularly paratroopers, regard him as their patron.

Roman Catholics refer to him as _"Saint Michael the Archangel"_ and also simply as _"Saint Michael"_. Orthodox Christians refer to him as the _"Taxiarch Archangel Michael"_ or simply _"Archangel Michael"_. The New Age Movement often refers to Michael as "Creator God Michael of Nebadon", Hatton, Aton, or simply Christ Michael.

---

Ellie enters the courtyard heading toward her front door, stopping when she hears a female voice coming from the side. Following the sound, she turns to see the back of her brother's girlfriend. Seeing that she's on the phone, Ellie turns to give the younger woman her privacy though she remains close by to offer her support on what appears to be an intense conversation. Hearing a deep sigh, Ellie turns to see Sarah putting her phone away while heading toward Chuck's bedroom window.

"It's the 'Morgan Door' not the 'Sarah door'." Ellie calls out as the blonde walks straight past the older woman without even noticing her presence. Sarah stops in surprise before quickly schooling her features and turning.

"Ellie! I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there."

"Clearly. Is everything alright? That looked like a pretty intense conversation." Ellie motions for Sarah to follow her through the front door. She tosses her bag down on the couch before retrieving two glasses and a bottle of wine from the kitchen, returning and filling both before handing one to Sarah.

"Yeah, just a family issue. Nothing to worry about."

"Sarah, you've been a member of this family since the moment you walked through that front door. If there's anything that any of us can do to help, all you have to do is ask. It's no worry."

"Thanks, Ellie. But I'm not entirely certain exactly what the problem is, so I don't want to say anything unless I know exactly what the issue is."

"Fair enough. Just promise that you'll come to us if you need anything."

"Deal."

--------

"I didn't know that you were Catholic, Sarah." The younger woman looks up at Ellie's comment while the two are setting the kitchen table for dinner. At the questioning look, Ellie nods to the medallion that slipped out from under her top.

Sarah doesn't say anything at first, just tucks the medallion back under her shirt.

"More of a lapsed Catholic."

"Oh. Then why do you wear that medallion? Which is it, by the way?"

"Saint Michael."

"Patron saint of the innocents, right?"

"As well as the Archangel."

"I've never seen it on you before."

"Yeah. It's a recent addition." Sarah doesn't say anything else and Ellie wisely drops the subject. The sound of Sarah's ringtone sounds at the same time as the front door opens. Ellie moves to greet her fiancé while Chuck stands by as Sarah answers her phone. Sarah pales at the voice on the other end before retreating to Chuck's room shutting the door behind her.

"What's up with Sarah, babe?" Awesome questions.

"I'm not entirely sure. She's got some family issues going on right now."

"I hope that her dad's okay." Chuck comments off-hand, moving to grab a bottle of water. His comment causes Ellie to whip around to face her younger brother.

"Her dad? You've met him?"

Chuck looks up in surprise, realizing he's said too much and tries to get out of it. "Yeah, he was in town a few weeks ago, just before The Awesome's were here. But he could only stay for a night, so there was just enough time for Sarah to have dinner with him. I didn't even get to join them, I ran into them purely by accident." Chuck clams up before running into his bedroom.

Shutting the door behind him, he turns to see Sarah sitting silently on his bed, her phone in hand.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He takes a seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in silent support.

"Yeah, just um, I need to go out of town for a few days, so I need to see Casey."

"Does that mean that you won't be staying for dinner?"

"I'm sorry. I know this was supposed to be-"

"Don't even worry about it. Do you want me to go with you?"

"Yes." Sarah doesn't hesitate to answer, though she's also quick to amend her answer. "But you can't."

"Ah, is this something that has to do with Jenny Burton?"

"Sort of, but not really."

"Right, now that makes perfect sense."

"I'm sorry, Chuck. This is just one of those things that you can't know about."

"I know, I'm still getting used to it." Sarah smiles sadly at him before leaning into him, working with him when he maneuvers them so they're lying down. Later when Ellie comes to collect them for dinner she finds them curled up together asleep. Smiling softly, she backs out quietly so as not to disturb them.

-----

"Hey, Chuck, have you heard anything from Sarah?"

"Not since you last asked me that this morning, sis." Chuck is barely in the door after work when he's being accosted by his sister about his girlfriend. Truth be told, he's starting to miss her as well. Especially with the recent development in their relationship; entering his room and flopping onto his bed, he thinks back to Christmas night, when he confronted Sarah about the knowledge of her actions earlier that day.

"_Chuck? Is everything alright? You've been acting weird ever since I found you in the Buy More after taking down the Fulcrum agent." Sarah takes Chuck's arm, forcing him to a stop while he's walking her to her car. Chuck refuses to meet her gaze, though when she takes his chin and forces him to look her in the eye, he breaks down._

"_I saw you, alright." Sarah looks confused, leading Chuck to elaborate. "When you told me to leave the forest and lock myself in the Castle…I went back… and I saw you." Realization dawns on Sarah's face. "I saw you shoot the Fulcrum agent. Why did you lie to me? Why did you kill him? And then tell me that you arrested him?"_

"_He said something…what, I won't say. But if I hadn't done what I did, if I had just arrested him, then his buddies in Fulcrum wouldn't have stopped looking for him. And they would have found you. You would have been taken away if that had happened. I didn't want to see that happen. I _couldn't_ let that happen." It's Sarah's turn to refuse eye contact, and Chuck's turn to force it. When he meets her gaze, he's shocked to see tears in her eyes._

"_I've tried to hide it, Chuck, but I can't anymore. I can't just stand by and call you an asset… I can't see you as an assignment anymore. Not being able to see you…having you taken away… having myself reassigned…I'd go crazy Chuck. _

"_When you gave me this bracelet," Chuck notices that she's nervously playing with one of the charms, "That look in your eyes, when I said that it should go to a real girlfriend… what you said… If you meant it, say it. If not, tell me and I'll never mention it again. But I can't hide my feelings for you anymore. _

"_Did you give me this because you want us to go somewhere, really? 'Cause we both know you could have just given me another alarm clock." Chuck laughs softly at the recall of his gift last year. Sarah has fallen silent, waiting for his answer, though dreading it in case it's not the one she wants to hear. _

"_Hey," Chuck cups her cheek in his hand, gently bringing her gaze to meet his. "I've wanted this since you first walked into the Buy More. I just never really thought that I deserved it…deserved you." Sarah smiles in relief, allowing him to pull her in for a soft kiss._

Ellie's call for him snaps him out of his flashback and he drags himself to his feet to see what she wants.

"Hey, Chuck. I'm not really in the mood to cook tonight, so I'm calling in some Chinese. What do you want?"

"Sizzling Shrimp, I guess. You want me to go get it?"

"Nah, I'm gonna walk there once I put the order in, then Devon is going to pick me up on his way back from work."

"Alright." Chuck returns to his room to clean up and get changed.

An hour later, at the sound of his sister and her fiancé in the courtyard, Chuck shuts off his gaming console and heads out into the living room. He manages to catch the tail end of the conversation between Awesome and Casey.

"-yeah, no problem, John. Feel free to use our TV. Sorry 'bout yours, do you have any idea what the problem could be?"

"Probably just that I need a new one. Thanks for letting me use yours though."

"Hey, Casey." Chuck takes one of the cartons from his sister and takes a seat beside Casey on the couch. "What are we watching?"

At Casey's soft growl, Chuck scoots a few inches farther down the couch, waiting for Casey's reply.

"It's the debark of the _USS Kitty Hawk_ carrier group."

"Fascinating." Chuck doesn't seem all that fascinated, leaving Casey to growl once again.

"Bartowski, in-" Casey checks his watch, "-three minutes and forty-two seconds, we will be welcoming home 9,452 US service men and women. Those 9,452 men and women haven't seen any of their family in almost 14 months; many have young children they haven't even had the opportunity to lay eyes on in person; and they will be a part of history. I've had this event Tivo'd since I got the intel on its viewing."

"What's with the attitude, John? Sounds like you've got a personal interest." Devon takes a seat on the chair to the side with his own plate, scooting over so Ellie can take a seat beside him. Casey suddenly regrets opening his mouth, though he does follow through on the question.

"The _USS Kitty Hawk_ is being decommissioned in 35 days. Forty-seven years ago, my father was a Petty Officer First Class on her maiden voyage. Ever since then, we watch the return. Given that this year is her last year, it holds more weight, especially to my father."

"Wow." Ellie is shocked. "That is so amazing. We certainly don't have a family history like that."

"Why didn't you follow your father into the military, John?"

"I did. I'm retired Air Force." John turns his attention to the television, turning up the volume so the voice of the newswoman can filter through the living room.

"_I'm here in Bremerton, Washington for the final disembarkment of the _USS Kitty Hawk_. Today we are not only celebrating the return of over nine thousand service men and women and the final return of America's oldest active carrier, but we are also celebrating the reunion of two siblings that haven't seen or spoken to each other in over 20 years. Of the Marine Unit stationed onboard the _Kitty Hawk_, Captain Sophie Wilder will be welcomed home by her older sister, UCLA graduate student, Sarah Walker."_

Four mouths fall open in shocked silence as the side shot of Sarah's face takes residence on the screen. So shocked are they, they barely register the news woman's voice continuing on.

"_Six months ago, Captain Wilder was interviewed on board by a fellow journalist, explaining precisely why she does what she does for this country."_ The scene of the pier is replaced by a video recording of a man – off screen – and a woman in an interview scene, the backdrop is a canvas tarp.

"_So Captain, tell us what it is that you do…personnel retrieval, was the term I heard."_

"_First of all: _I_ don't do it, my _team _does it. There are 30 of us stationed on the _Kitty Hawk _that does this job. Secondly, it's our job to ensure that after an attack that results in casualties, all the personal property – and sometimes bodies –of the injured or killed men and women are retrieved and returned. Clearly the bodies go to the morgue and later funeral home, and the personal effects go to the surviving family members."_

"_Why do you subject yourself to that kind of mental anguish and torture?"_

"_I'm bringing peace of mind to the families of the casualties…that's why I 'subject' myself to the torture, as you put it."_

"_But why? Is this a volunteer position? And if it is, why would you volunteer, and why would you stay in? I've done my research Captain, this particular job has the shortest tours – with a three month turnaround – and the longest break time – averaging two years. Usually a Marine's tour is nine months on and two years off. You've been in the position of commander of this unit for 14 months."_

"_First of all, yes, this is a volunteer job, all of the enlisted men and women are reservists. And I volunteer because someone needs to ensure that the families back home know what happened to them."_

"_But why continue? Another officer could have been called in."_

"_I started this, I'm going to finish it."_

"_Again, why? I've spoken with others in the unit, they've all had much of the same reason, but what's yours? Why did you choose this job?"_

"_I've got an older sister, I haven't seen her since we were nine years old. My mother wanted to leave our father and take us with her, little did we know, he had the same plans. When the time came, they were only able to take one of us. I haven't seen or heard from her or our father since. I don't even know if the two of them are alive or dead._

"_No person should have to go through something like that. Family is the most important thing in a persons' life; knowing how they lived is easy, knowing how they die, that's harder. Knowing what they thought of in their daily life is easy, you can often ask them, but knowing what they thought of in their final moments…few people get to know that, many spend years trying to find out what those thoughts were. We get to tell people that. I've retrieved arms that have been separated from the body in IED explosions, but clutched in one of them was a photo of an older woman and an onyx rosary. I later found out that photo was of the grandmother that raised him, and the rosary was the last gift his parents bought for him before they died, and they bought it with the intention of giving it to him the day of his confirmation. Or you find dog tag chains, sure they've got one of the dog tags on them, and some will have a crucifix, or a medallion depicting the Archangel, but occasionally you'll find something else: there was this little bead and wire charm on one, turns out the guy's daughter gave it to him for luck just before he left. Being able to tell a family that they were all their loved one thought of while he or she was away…that's something all families think, but never fully believe, but we're able to tell them that. We're able to tell them that even though their son or daughter was surrounded by war, they still found time to pray the rosary, thereby remembering their faith, or keeping a charm and therefore their family close to their hearts."_

"That's_ why I do what I do, _that's _why I won't let anyone else take over for me. This is a dirty and difficult job, yes, and no more people than necessary should have to experience it."_

There isn't a dry eye in the living room – Casey included – when the scene shifts back to the pier. Even the anchor is wiping away tears.

"_Wow, that got to me four months ago, too. Little did Captain Wilder know, but her sister had been searching for her and her mother for the past ten years, a task Captain Wilder could not afford given the time demands that her job required. Twenty-one years after their separation, these two sisters have lived lives more differently than the other could even imagine. Sophie was afforded every luxury, the best private schools in the nation, and an early appointment to the United States Naval Academy at the age of sixteen, where she graduated number one in her class. Sarah refused to divulge much of her past, just that she and her father were often forced to move about, and that her father abandoned her shortly before her high school graduation and she had to work several jobs throughout her undergraduate and graduate years. Both do have extended families through their respective significant others, though both refused to comment on that particular aspect of their lives, choosing to maintain the privacy of their personal lives. And today, they will see each other – in person – for the first time in over 20 years." _

She turns to the back ground, where waves of men and women are starting to disembark the ship they've called home for the past 14 months. The camera focuses on one woman, who we recognize from the earlier video. She approaches Sarah, dropping her bag when she is a few feet away and throwing her arms around the blonde's shoulders. Their mouths are seen moving, exchanging words before the two separate and the younger woman grabs her bag, linking her free arm with Sarah's and the pair walks off the screen, leading the scene to shift to other sailors – and a few marines – being greeted by their families.

"Wow. I guess we know what her family issue was now." Devon breaks the silence.

"Yeah, and I understand why she wouldn't tell us. Could you imagine the reaction if it turned out that she wasn't her sister? She's been searching for ten years, I can't even begin to imagine the number of rejections she had."

Chuck looks to Casey at his sister's comment and notices the slight hitch of his head, and he manages to get the hint.

"Anything else that you wanted to see, Casey?"

"No, I set your DVR, so I'll stop by tomorrow to record it."

"Let me walk you out." The two men are on their feet and out the door before the others can comment, once the door is safely shut behind them, Chuck turns on Casey.

"Did you know about this?"

"No, why, would it have made a difference if I had?"

"Yes. Look, I know that you are fully capable of causing a great amount of physical pain on me, but I've had to stand by and watch while Sarah has been torn apart emotionally over this for the past week. And if I find out that you did know something about this, then I won't hesitate to attempt to cause some extreme pain to you."

"You finished, Bartowski?"

"Yes." Chuck stands confidently before Casey, though in his eyes it's clear he's trying not to soil himself.

"Good. 'Bout time you and Walker admitted to all your feelings for each other." Casey turns and walks off to his door. It takes a second for Chuck's thoughts to catch up to what he just said.

"Wait! If you know, does that mean that you're going to report us?"

"Don't let it affect the mission and I won't." Casey disappears behind his front door, hiding the image of Chuck standing in the courtyard with a big goofy, happy smile on his face.

--------

The next day, Chuck knocks on the door of Sarah's hotel room holding two sprigs of gardenias. He steps back slightly when the door is opened. Standing before him is a brunette version of Sarah, though upon closer inspection, Chuck discovers that her eyes are green, she's a couple inches shorter and curvier, but the facial features and mannerisms are all Sarah. The woman smiles at him brightly before stepping back to allow him in.

"You must be Chuck. Sarah's told me about you."

"Really. I assure you, none of it is true."

"So her first impression of you wasn't of you rapping Vicki Vale, you didn't set her soufflé on fire the night she first had dinner with your sister and her boyfriend, you didn't save her life when she was accidently exposed to some concentrated 'Truth serum', and she doesn't trust you more than she trusts our father?"

"Okay, A: It's from Batman, so I really don't care what kind of impression that left on her; B: It was totally an accident; C: she's saved my life more than a few times, so that one time barely registers; and D: No offense, I know he's your father, but I don't trust him. I'll respect him, since he managed to create two amazing women for this world, but I won't trust him."

"A: You can stop sucking up to me."

"And B?" Chuck is afraid of that answer, though it doesn't come since Sarah enters the room.

"I like him, Sarah. I approve." Sophie goes to her bag on the couch and pulls out a jacket, leaving Sarah stumped at the door.

"Good to know," she eventually responds, leaning to give Chuck a kiss, accepting the flowers as she pulls back.

"Just so you know, she had Casey in tears last night watching your reunion on the news."

"Really?!" Sarah doesn't believe him, Sophie just stands by dumbly, not knowing who they're talking about.

"Oh, and I'm under strict instructions to pick the two of you up, bring you to Casa Bartowski, and keep you both there while I get started on dinner and we wait for Ellie and Awesome to get home. So let's go." Chuck grabs Sarah's coat and helps her into it, stepping aside so that the two siblings can exit the room.

---------

"-Devon, why is it that you're so focused on-?" Ellie stops short at the scene that greets her when she enters her living room. Chuck is in the kitchen preparing dinner and sitting on the couch cross-legged, facing each other is Sarah and Sophie, palms against the others' parallel to the ground. The two women seem to be engaged in a staring contest to the death.

"Hey, Sarah, welcome back."

"Thanks, Ellie. It's good to be back." Sarah doesn't take her gaze off of her sister. Chuck is moving around paying no attention to the sisters and Ellie and Devon stand there confused at the scene in front of them. They've left the door open behind them, so Casey only lightly knocks on the door frame when he enters, also stopping short at the scene. Suddenly a crack is heard in the room, shocking everyone by Chuck.

"Hah! I win!"

"So not fair! You cheated."

"You're also just as much of a sore loser now as you were then."

"I'm not a sore loser, I just hate not winning."

"That translates to _sore loser_." Sophie teases her sister. Pushing her hair off her face and reaching for her beer on the table. She takes a quick sip before turning back. "Best out of 29?" The teasing twinkle bright in her eyes. Sarah is prevented from answering at the sound of throat clearing to the side. Simultaneously they turn to face the trio standing at the door.

"Hey." Sarah motions to each person as she does the introductions. "Sophie, this is Chuck's sister Ellie, her fiancé, Devon, and their neighbor, John Casey."

"So you would be the Casey that Chuck said cried at the sight of our reunion last night?" Chuck is seen flinching in the background when Casey gives off his death growl. Sophie merely laughs and greets the other two. "It's nice to meet you all. Sarah's told me so much about all of you." She sticks her hand out for a greeting and is surprised when Awesome ignores the hand and wraps his arms around her, picking her up in a bear hug.

"Awesome!" He puts her down and releases her, which leads to Ellie moving in for an equally big hug.

"It is _sooo_ nice to meet you!" Ellie releases her and steps back.

"Right." Sophie looks shocked at the open display of affection by these people on someone they've just met. Sarah comes to her rescue as the doctors move to change out of their work clothes.

"They're big on PDAs, and you'll quickly learn why we affectionately refer to Devon as 'Captain Awesome'."

"Right."

Ellie bounces into the room and collapses on the couch. Everyone quickly follows suit – minus Casey who quietly slips out unnoticed – and makes themselves comfortable. Ellie is the first to speak up.

"So, Sarah, you've found your sister…what about your mom?" Sophie speaks up at this.

"Mom died in a car crash seven years ago." Ellie is immediately apologetic.

"I'm so sorry to bring that up."

"It's okay, Ellie." Sarah assures her. Ellie tries to redeem herself.

"Chuck said that your dad was in town a few weeks ago." Sophie whips her attention toward her sister, waiting for the response. Sarah glares at Chuck for mentioning it, and he sheepishly shrugs his shoulders apologetically.

"Yeah, he swept in to town to apologize for leaving me and left once again to parts unknown as soon as I forgave him for all the crap he put me through growing up."

The group falls silent at the turn the evening has quickly taken and Chuck – in all his sweetness – attempts to recover the evening.

"So, Sophie, what's up next for you? Are you going back to Iraq any time soon?"

"I've got at least two years stateside. But right now I've got 30 days of leave before I report back to Camp Lejeune."

"Will you be spending all of that time here?" Ellie asks next.

"Some of it. I've already got my plane ticket to London to spend some time with my boyfriend."

"What does he do?"

"He's a retired Marine – we met at our last duty station – and he works for the FBI now, but he's on loan through some sort of exchange program with Scotland Yard right now."

"What did he do for the Marines?" Devon speaks up.

"He was a sniper. We met when he was at the armory bugging the armorer about when his rifle was going to be fixed, and I was there to pick mine up. Eventually I got so tired of him monopolizing the guy's time that I told him to shut up, pushed him aside and asked for my rifle. Five minutes later I was on my way, and he was staring after me dumbly still not registering what had just happened. We went through re-quals on the range together that week and by the time he left the base four months later, we were dating."

"So one of those 'love through hate' relationships?" Ellie questions.

"Pretty much. I couldn't stand him when we first met, he was so freaking arrogant. Still is, actually, I just know how to put him in his place."

"Miss him?" Ellie asks simply.

"Is a pig's ass pork?" Sophie answers just as simply. Sarah reaches over and slaps her for her crude comment. She makes a face in return, which leads Sarah to stick her tongue out at her sister. Chuck breaks in with a laugh.

"Ladies! Please! You'd think you two were eight, not twenty-eight." The two sisters laugh before settling back down, Sophie against the couch and Sarah against Chuck.

"What's the age difference between you two?" Devon speaks up.

"We're Irish twins…Eleven months." Sophie clarifies at the confusion to her initial answer. "So we were in the same year academically, though Sarah never let me forget that she was the older one."

"Did you eventually skip a couple grades? The story last night said that you were accepted into the Naval Academy when you were 16."

"Yes, that's when I was accepted, though I was 17 when I started. And yes, I managed to skip a couple grades. I was joint enrolled during my last two years of high school and actually had 29 college credits to my name when I started at the Naval Academy. Not that many of them counted though. Just like how AP test scores only counted if you got a 5 on the AP exam, college credits didn't count towards you except to place you in a more advanced course."

"What about you, Sarah? Did you ever skip any grades?"

"No, but I was also joint enrolled, and I graduated high school four credits away from a completed sophomore year at college."

"So why aren't you done with your graduate degree by now?"

"Who said I was only going for one?" Sarah answers Devon's questions cockily.

-----------

"So, that's an interesting group of people you've assimilated yourself into." Sophie comments as they walk toward Sarah's car on their way home.

"Yeah, but they're family. They welcome you into their fold so easily, and you're never allowed to leave. Even when Chuck and I had broken up last year, Ellie still kept in touch with me, and then when Chuck and I got back together, it was like the break-up had never happened. Wait until you meet Morgan – Chuck's best friend – he's like the little brother you never wanted but can't quite bring yourself to get rid of."

"So you're happy?" Sarah stops before entering her car and just stares at her sister for a moment. Slowly a soft smile spreads across her face.

"Yeah, Soph, I am. I'm happier than I ever thought I'd ever deserve to be."

"One of these days you're going to have to tell me exactly what you've been up to, that way these little comments you make will actually make sense." The pair get into the car and drive off. Once Sarah has situated herself, she turns her attention back to her sister.

"What do you mean?"

"What makes you think that you don't deserve happiness?"

"Dad raised me never to trust anyone. It's been hard, but Chuck's slowly showing me that it _is_ okay to let people into your life and your heart."

"Sounds like he's a good man."

"Yeah, he is."

"What about this John Casey? What's he like?" Sophie questions Sarah with an impish tone.

"A) you're practically engaged. B) No, just no!"

--------

On September 2, 2008, the USS Kitty Hawk returned to home port in Bremerton's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and began the preparing for inactivation and decommissioning. USS Kitty Hawk is expected to decommission during an invitation-only ceremony Jan. 31. Former USS Kitty Hawk crewmembers, their friends and families are invited to tour the ship's hangar bay Thursday, Jan. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Bremerton, Wash., Naval Base Kitsap's Pier D. Its aircraft flew combat missions over Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Kitty Hawk spent most of its career homeported in San Diego, but in 1998 it moved to Yokosuka, Japan, where it operated for nearly a decade as the Navy's only overseas aircraft carrier.

The carrier group consists of the Kitty Hawk and nine surface combat ships.

--------

Okay, it's been awhile since I had to know anything pertaining to the military, and I was a Marine, not Navy, and anything pertaining to the Naval Academy was what I remember from my parents and my brother talking six years ago, so if there are any problems, please let me know.


	6. Alex

I admit, I was not prepared to like this week's episode, because I really thought that Sarah was leaving the show for good. But I did enjoy this episode. And was I the only one that thought Alex and Sarah shared some resemblance? Honestly, in the first scene in the Castle with the four of them, I totally interpreted Chuck's staring at the two women as his noticing that they shared some resemblance and his comparing the physical features of the two. Oh well. I decided to take a bit of the show's timeline and arrange it to fit my own desires. And what we know about Sarah's dad, doesn't apply to this chapter.

* * *

"Hey, Sarah." Sarah stops her pacing in front of the fountain at hearing Ellie call to her as she and Devon enter the courtyard.

"Hey," Sarah responds and stops the pair from entering their apartment. "I need to tell you something before you can go in there."

"Sarah, I am beyond exhausted, so can we do this later?"

"No." Sarah stands her ground and waits patiently until Ellie stops trying to get around her and stands with her arms crossed, waiting for her to speak.

"Okay. Is everything alright?"

"Nothing happened at Devon's bachelor party, Ellie."

"How do you know that?"

"I'd like to know that, too." Devon speaks up, though shuts up when Ellie turns to glare at him.

"My sister is really protective of me. I know, I'm 28 years old, but she still acts like I'm 15 and bringing my first boyfriend home. Which is beyond wrong considering she's only in the country for a couple days every two or three years, but I digress. She's protective. And she was in the states this week; she got here last week, found me and saw me as I came here for dinner last Friday. Remember, Devon was the one that answered the door and greeted me with a hug? Well, she saw that, and thought that I was dating him. Then she overheard Morgan, Jeff and Lester talking to Chuck about Devon's bachelor party and thought that he was marrying me.

"She likes to test the men in my life, then she sends me evidence of the test." Sarah pulls out her phone and shows Ellie one of the photos that she saw Jeff and Lester with. Ellie glances at them for a heartbeat before turning away. "This photo was taken after Devon told her how in love he was with his fiancée. She then dosed him with an animal tranquilizer and allowed Jeff and Lester to take some completely inappropriate photos of her with him and sent them to me – because my reaction to her testing is part of her test."

"Okay," Ellie is once again prevented from entering her apartment. "Can we talk about this inside?"

"That's the other thing. I got her to get a friend to help Chuck out with something as a way to repay you for her mistake."

"Alright; help Chuck out with what?"

"His wedding gift for you." Sarah reaches behind her and opens the door for them, following the couple in. Chuck is waiting in the living room, still in his Nerd Herd uniform. Sarah looks around when she sees that his father is not around.

"Where's-"

"In the bathroom." The younger couple shares a soft smile which does not go unnoticed by the older couple. "Um, Ellie," Chuck motions to the blood-stained scrubs his sister is wearing. "You might want to change out of those. Trust me." He adds with a smile before she can comment.

Ellie smiles indulgently before going into the master bedroom to change, Devon following behind her. As soon as their door shuts, the bathroom door opens and Stephen Bartowski comes out.

"Did I hear someone come in?" The older gentleman smiles in greeting at Sarah before turning to his son.

"Ellie and Awesome are here."

"'Awesome'?"

"Devon Woodcomb, affectionately known as Captain Awesome."

"And he's your sister's boyfriend?"

"Sort of; Dad-" Chuck is cut off by Awesome exiting the room in jeans and a polo, tucking his keycard back under his shirt.

"Seriously, Chuckster, I never got to thank you for finding my key card. You seriously saved my butt finding it."

"No problem." Awesome notices the older man standing in the living room and recognition immediately crosses his face.

"Dude." He glances quickly between Chuck and Stephen, his expression travelling from shock to pure unadulterated joy. "Seriously? You found him? How?"

"Dad, this is Devon Woodcomb, Ellie's fiancé; Devon, Ellie and my dad, Stephen Bartowski."

"Awesome!" Devon grabs the man's hand in a firm shake, pulling him in for a one-armed hug. "You have no idea how happy Ellie will be that Chuck's found you. Oh, she might even forgive me for your sister's actions the night of my bachelor party."

Any further comment is halted as Ellie comes out in jeans and a shirt, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She enters the kitchen and pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Alright, Chuck, Sarah, what's this big news you've got?" She takes a sip and turns around, spitting out the water when she sees who's standing on the other side of the partition next to her brother. Chuck stands there with an over joyous grin on his face, while their father stands by with a somewhat hesitant smile of his own. Ellie glances between the two before turning to Sarah, the question clear in her eyes.

"Let's just say that my sister has more than a few favors owed to her from various government officials, and she owes me even more."

"Hello, Ellie." Their father finally speaks up. "You- you look beautiful. So much like your mother."

Ellie makes her way around the island to stand in front of the father/son pair.

"How? How did you find him after all the invitations that you sent out came back?"

Chuck points behind him to the blonde. "Sarah." He simply states. Before Sarah can object, Ellie throws her arms around the younger woman's neck, holding tightly before releasing her and throwing one arm around her brother and the other around her father. Chuck registers a flash from the side and turns to see Devon putting his camera away. He turns to look for Sarah and finds her quietly leaving the room, talking on her phone. Ellie finally releases the two men and quickly wipes away the tears that have fallen. She looks around, noticing that Sarah's left.

"Where's Sarah?"

"She got a phone call, babe." Awesome motions to the front door as he says this.

* * *

Sarah puts away her phone as she shuts the door, turning to see Alex standing behind her.

"So, 'Alex Forrest', never thought I'd see you again."

"Same. I certainly never thought I'd be seeing you as the result of a 49B. What happened, kid?"

"Stop calling me that. And nothing happened. I guarantee you, after a week of having this assignment; you'd have fallen for Chuck's charm, too."

"So you have fallen for him."

"That's not what I said."

"Look, I'm not here on Beckman's orders anymore. Truth: have you fallen for him?"

"I care about him. No questions there. If you understood just how important he was to national security you'd be especially worried about anyone new on this team also."

"Does this have anything to do with the domestic terrorist group, Fulcrum? There's been a lot of chatter going on about an asset they want that's in the LA area."

"You know I can't talk about it."

"That answers my question right there. Don't worry, I won't ask anymore." Further conversation is halted by the door opening behind Sarah and Ellie pokes her head out.

"Sarah, what- oh, hello." Ellie's gaze narrows as she recognizes Alex and her tone cools immediately. Alex pays no attention to the cool tone and goes forward with a bright smile and cheery tone.

"Hello. You must be Ellie, I'm Alex, Alex Forrest. I am so sorry about what happened with your fiancé, believe me, had I known he was not Sarah's, then I would not have done what I did."

"If you had just called me instead of following me around then you would have known that he wasn't mine." Sarah shoots back with a smile belaying the upset tone to her voice. "Ellie, this is my sister, Alex."

"Why don't you join us for dinner? Let bygones be bygones."

"Well-"

"Hey, babe, what's the hold-up?" Devon comes up behind Ellie, Chuck and Stephen behind him. Chuck's eyes widen at the sight of Agent Forrest standing there, though he remains silent.

"Wait, Chuck you were at the bachelor party, why didn't you recognize Alex there?" Ellie turns to her brother.

"Well, she was wearing considerably less than she was when I met her. And she did not look the same. Plus, I wasn't particularly enjoying that part of the evening." Chuck comes up behind Sarah and throws an arm around her shoulders. "I've got all that I need right here, why would I entertain myself with the entertainment?"

Alex raises her eyebrows in Sarah's direction and quietly speaks to her in a language no one else present understands. Sarah takes a deep breath before quietly responding. Alex smiles softly at the couple before nodding in acceptance. The three looking on don't ask questions, but do look curious at what transpired between the sisters. Finally Ellie speaks up.

"So, Alex, will you be joining us for dinner?"

"Thank you, Ellie, but no. My flight leaves in a few hours."

"Uh, before you leave…where did you gain access to animal tranquilizer?" Devon questions something Sarah said in her explanation of what happened the night of the bachelor party.

"I'm a large animal veterinarian." Alex states simply.

"Like, horses and cows?" Alex pulls out her phone and pulls a photo up, showing it to the others.

"Like giraffes and lions and other African creatures." The display is a photo of her and a white tiger on an examination table. "Honestly, I'm surprised at how long you lasted before passing out. I gave you a dose for an ostrich, but other guys Sarah's dated succumbed in seconds, you lasted at least seven before passing out."

"Well, thank you. Was that what caused my headache that morning?"

"Combined with the alcohol, yes; the tranquilizer alone wouldn't have any side effects besides waking up surprisingly refreshed." Alex takes her phone back and leans in to give Sarah a hug. "I really do have to go. Walk me to my car, kid?"

"Sure." Sarah extracts herself from Chuck's embrace before following Alex to the car.

* * *

"Seriously, kid. Watch yourself. You lucked out with this 49B, there's no guarantee that you could be so lucky next time."

"Our results speak for themselves. Beckman recognizes that the bond we have is a good thing, not a hindrance."

"Fine, but still…watch yourself. I'm happy for you, really, I am. The last thing that I want to see is for the two of you to be separated."

"Thanks." Sarah leans in and wraps her arms around Alex's neck. "Take care of yourself."

"See you next year?"

"See you next year." Sarah confirms before releasing Alex and watching her drive off. She turns to see Chuck leaning against the archway watching.

"Please don't tell me that she's going to be back next year." He pleads with her.

"Just one of our code phrases, Chuck."

"Really? Wait- so she really is your sister?"

"Yeah. And she really is a large animal vet, but she stumbled onto a CIA operation a few years back and rather than allow herself to be placed in a bunker, she accepted the CIA's offer to become an agent."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"Could I do that?"

Sarah is silent for a moment, weighing the options of making Chuck a field agent. Finally she steps forward and twines her fingers with his.

"What's say we get through Ellie and Awesome's wedding first? Then we'll discuss what to do with you."

Walking back into the courtyard, Chuck turns to her for one last question.

"What did she say to you? Before Ellie asked her to stay for dinner?"

"Eh, it'd loose something in the translation. Basically, she likes you." Sarah smiles brightly up at him before following him into the apartment.

* * *

So I know I promised a couple other versions awhile back, but I lost my flash drive recently, and it had those stories on it, so I got to start over. Let me know what y'all think…and wish me luck on my senior thesis…it's the only thing I'm gonna be writing in the coming weeks.


End file.
